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Massive drop off of McVee? That’s ridiculous. He’s been one of the very best this year!!!

This incident has totally changed how I feel about this game. Something died in me that night. It still eats at me what that POS did and how he got rewarded for it. I hope Gus finds his peace ❤️

What?

I know it's noise but to give up two first round draft picks for Houston would completely set us back years in terms of a mini rebuild. I like Houston but he's not what we need now. He'll be 28 next year and we're potentially giving away two elite talent that could have 10 year careers with the dees. With Tim Lamb on board I can't be surprised anymore if we did offer up two first round draft picks.

It's the classic goal-post shifting that is the more hilarious thing from Binman and the like. It's now fatigue apparently!!! Fatigue! I mean, give us a break! How did fatigue go for us when we managed to peg GWS back in that last quarter? Was it fatigue in the first quarter alone against the Bulldogs? How are we measuring this exactly? You can't take that bunch seriously because there'll be an excuse that becomes 'The Reason' for our failings for that given season. Which is utterly ridiculous given these are commonalities ALL teams go through and just covers over underlying issues that have existed for too long. Injury and fatigue hey. Wow. How you measure these as a supporter depends entirely on what level of bias one holds for their team. For Binman and co, the dees always seem to be victim of such cruelties, more so than any other side in the AFL! That's because this particular group of dlanders have held the long-standing and unequivocal belief that we are the best team in it, we have undoubtedly the best game-plan and the most talented list. If you vehemently believe the above to be true, you're no doubt going to throw up one or two excuses as 'The Reason' for a failed season. Which is exactly what this crew have done since the 2022 finals campaign, all the while completely ignoring a set of underlying issues that have plagued us even throughout our 2021 home and away year. Along with the obvious disadvantages that all teams face every year, why don't we look at some of the contributing factors that have remained with us as a side for far too long now. And are the reason that all supporters get so frustrated with Goodwin. 1: Jackson replacement/genuine Gawn support. Why is it that Goodwin defenders cannot seem to handle criticism of the failings in this area? It's been a significant fail given the way we have relied on him and provided next to no support. If dlanders are happy to throw up the injury excuse when he's out or when 'carrying' injury, how do you not point the finger at Goodwin and co for providing no support in a game where injury is bound to happen to anyone at any time? Especially so when part of your game-plan has been built around Max Gawn. 2: Midfield balance/attribute diversity I've banged on about this for I don't know how many years and it has plagued us in just about every game in which a team brings heat to our midfield. How much longer will it continue? Look no further than the first possession that we had on Friday night against the Dogs. Viney racing for a ball in dispute, gets to it and has two free Melbourne players if he manages to hook a dominant hand handball over his right shoulder. But no, he sees red, handballs blindly forward straight to a doggies player who takes possession. That kind of play is emblematic of our entire midfield unit when any serious heat is applied. And it happened all night. We have a contested heavy, ball winning heavy midfield unit who all lack in the same area when under pressure. Composure and disposal. It is that simple. We win the ball in tight and give it up almost immediately when the heat is applied. And every single side that have a half decent midfield know this when they play us. As the game goes on, the more desperate our mids become to win a clearance/contest and the more we swarm to the same ball and man with ball, in part because these mids have been 'ball winning' players since they were kids and desperation kicks in. The commentary around our lack of pace/run and the 'fatigue' comments are actually by-products of what is happening in close. We give the ball up that easily when heat is applied, it makes the opposition look quicker, fitter and like they have more players on the ground. When opposition half-backs could see the standard set by their mids on fri night, they knew they could have a field day by rolling the dice and streaming off their men, getting that call right the majority of the night due to how easily we were giving the ball up in close if we were getting our hands on it. (Which for much of the night we weren't even doing). So then it's two fold. You've got oppo half-backs playing their own game of footy as their mids are just consistently either winning first possession themselves and handballing out of congestion and then to running half backs, or they knew if we were to get first possession, we'd likely cough it up thanks to the the heat their team mates were applying in close and our lack of composure and disposal came to the fore. When the dogs bring heat like that, they look a million bucks because they are one of a few clubs who have mids who excel at feeding a ball out of a contest with a quick, smart handball under pressure. Libba and Bont specifically are specialists at this. Even Treloar has better hands in close than most if not all our mids. Now, clearance altogether has two parts to it. The one I listed above and the second being our actual setup at both centre bounce and stoppage. Both our positioning and lack of connectedness with Gawn has been wildly inconsistent for too long. Another issue that Binman and his brigade seem to ignore when they say things like, 'oh well, we don't place a premium on clearances anyway'. How about nah. Clearance gives you complete ascendency if you get it right. End of the third Q grand final? 3: Forward setup/personnel. Again. How long? Let's go back to last year's finals and those who basically said inaccuracy cost us the flag. That might be so, but that has been in part down to game-plan and personnel. And inaccuracy has cost us in plenty of other games over the last few years. I'm not sure what Goodwin expects when he plays two key defenders as key forwards and one young kid who is still learning how to be a forward at AFL level. (JVR played a lot of defence as an under-aged kid and I don't classify him as a classical key forward). Our inability to land one has been telling. We have a make-shift forward line that consistently looks like a dogs breakfast with little to no predictability in the way it moves. At the very least, Ben Brown was a straight line ball leader, which created vacuums of space for specialist forwards like Fritsch or Kosi to creep into. Goodwin has seemed happy to continue to play 'competitors' which means our kids are again happy to bomb away into the forward 50 with little to no intentionality. This problem also goes hand-in-hand with our midfield issue which I highlighted above. We have average ball user through our midfield when under no pressure and they're poor when under pressure. So, what will it take for us to land a specialist forwards assistant coach and perhaps a complete re-think of the type of players we want to have inside 50? Are we prepared to continue to play Fritsch when the ball isn't perfect for him given his complete disinterest in competing defensively? Another factor in why opposition teams waltz the ball out of our defence. Opposition defenders completely exploit that part of Fritsch's game. Do people notice this? When will Goody hold him to account? I won't hold my breath given the myriad of issues we have in our forwardline anyway. Ben Brown at full fitness is what this team misses more than supporters give credit for and we need to bring in another player of that type pronto. So, whilst I'm not in the 'sack Goody' camp. I certainly think that he's done this team no favours in the last few years and if he is not to blame, who we blaming? The umpires? Injury? Fitness? How about no. Those things will be there every year, period. Sure Petracca has been a missive loss. But that's even more telling! If a team is that reliant on one player, there are some serious underlying issues. And just so it's clear, I'm no doomsdayer. I believe we can rectify, recalibrate and go again whilst we still have some key pillars. But we need to absolutely nail this off-season and nail the pre-season and actually fix some of these underlying issues that have existed for far too long. If not, it will indeed be a wasted era.

If Mr Kane Cornes points this out, Goody must go! Tim Lamb should sell Oliver with our first round pick to free up money. Let’s employ Kane as an advisor, policy maker and inspirational motivation speaker. FFS

Go through the coaches of the better sides this year: Longmire's just "coached" Sydney to a 112 point loss. In consecutive weeks they've kicked a total of 12 goals, 3 of which came in the last 10 minutes of junk time last week. This from a side with about two best 22 players missing and with the so-called unbeatable midfield of Heeney, Warner and Gulden. Just one flag, none for 12 years. Fagan's had his side up for 6 seasons now without a flag. Even if he wins it this year, that's no more than Goodwin Longmuir is unproven and has only made the finals once so far Hinkley was booed off his home ground five weeks ago and has had the job for 10 years without even a GF appearance, let alone a flag Chris Scott has two flags, but it took him 11 years to get the second one, despite having a list with Hawkins, Selwood, Dangerfield, Cameron, Stewart etc. on it Beveridge is 8 years post his flag without a second one, despite a list with the game's best player on it and a midfield that bats deeper than anyone's. Missed the finals last year, and when they're struggling resorts to pot-shots in the media and dropping players out of nowhere Voss is struggling to even qualify for finals (was in the bottom 4 until two-thirds of the way into 2023 and hasn't quite got there yet in 2024) despite having Cripps, Walsh, Curnow, Mackay and Weitering McRae is still odds on to miss finals the year after his flag Mitchell is discussed in some circles as the second coming of Leigh Matthews but hasn't actually achieved anything yet Kingsley is like Mitchell except with one prelim appearance Hardwick is a great but has taken GC and cannot get them to win a game away from home, despite what I believe has been a relatively smooth run with injury this year Goodwin has a flag and, unless Collingwood pulls off something extraordinary from here, will be the only one of the last four premiership coaches to get his side back into the finals the following year.

As a self proclaimed pessimist and genuine hater of a lot of things I do believe that 2025 is Melbourne’s last season as a potential contender with this group. 2024 has been the season of what could go wrong has gone wrong and continues to get worse. - Before the season begins, the Clarry saga derails the offseason for the club. He then proceeds to play his worst season for the club because he had basically no pre-season. We can expect that he will be better in 2025. - The best player on the list lacerates his spleen and we only get 13 games out of him. Hopefully Christian can trust his body to be the best version of himself in 2025. - Max goes down at the most crucial point of the season and we end up with our two best players out the side when they were most needed. The Max we have seen since round 15 is a shadow of himself and he’s clearly been playing hurt for longer than the club wants to admit - The Brodie Grundy situation allowed Max to be rested when we hit finals but this year he has had little to no help and has had to ruck 85% game time compared to 50% in 2023. This has to be rectified going forward. - Round 4 sees Both May and Lever go down with more serious injuries than first realised. Lever plays hurt for a month before finally having surgery and then rushed back. He’s been bad ever since. May has clearly been hampered all year since that Hawthorn game and it’s almost like he’s finally been put out of his misery now. 2025 and we hopefully see Rick and May be their best selves. May probably only has one more year at his best. - The trading situation was just [censored] and not entirely through the fault of the club. Angus buggered everything, there was no way the club trades harmes and Jordon if we knew Gus would not be on the list in 2024. The rest of the trading (Fullarton, mcadam, Hunter) over the last few years have all unfortunately been busts. One can hope they get it right in 2024 trade period. - We are going to get pick 6-8 this year because of where we will likely finish. This can only help with 2025. - We will get another pre-season in Windsor, Van rooyen, Jefferson, Tholstrup etc and these kids can have a greater impact in 2025. - Petty will surely be a defender. Can’t have him as a forward again. - Career worst seasons out of Salem, Sparrow, and massive drop offs from Mcvee and Fritsch. - Losing Hibberd was enormous because we couldn’t match up on a general forward who has continued to dominate us this year. Hoping Howes can become this. - Coaching panel needs an overhaul. Stafford been there way too long and Mcqualter seemingly broke the midfield but he needs a chance. Reckon a lot of these can be bettered in 2025 and we can have one last crack at a flag with this list.

God it sucks so hard. The whole thing. I will never forgive the afl or maynard or the tribunal. Scum, all of them.

If jumping at shadows was an Olympic event, we'd have a few potential gold medallists posting here.

Had a look at that thread and…wow. They reckon after we get pick #4 from Adelaide for Oliver we’ll give them 4 & 7 and that’s the fair rate. Or Kozzie and #7. They also think Houston is worth more than when we traded for Lever and May based on the fact he’s already an AA. These are just what they think is fair, not actual whispers. Did I miss when Dan Houston became 23 year old Chris Judd?

I don’t agree with the premise of your argument. The three years under Roos fixed a lot of problems but it’s a bit of a stretch to suggest Goodwin was just handed everything he needed. At any rate, Chris Scott fits the bill of the question you’re asking. And is the only one of the coaches I mentioned who has more flags than Goodwin. I’d also argue that Voss, Longmuir and McRae started off with stronger platforms based on their clubs’ lists and cultures. And plenty of other coaches have failed with more.

Here, here Jaded. I don't think I'll ever get over that night and the outcomes that followed. The AFL decided to put the person/players welfare second and it just kills me. So saddened to hear that Gus is still struggling with the effects its having on his health. I can only imagine how this is all effecting the playing group who must miss him dearly. He is forever my favourite Melbourne player and going to games this year without him being out there has really got me down at every game.

People are looking at the Jordon (and to a lesser extent, Harmes) discussion wrong (wrongly?). They weren’t stars but they were often solid contributors, much better than the current players that we have in our names best 23. Having a very solid bottom six, in that 23, is key.

75% of this thread is 'Goody better be watching this' and other inane [censored]. Some of you need to get a life.

IMO the clear number 1 factor isn't fitness, it's skills. We turn it over far too often across our own half-forward line and get burnt the other way because we're not set up deep defensively. Meanwhile our own poor skills mean that when we take the ball of our opponents we don't generate enough shots and then we don't convert them. I also think another key factor is our woeful midfield. We concede too much territory from being so poor at stoppage that we're playing too much of the game in our back half and spending too much time and energy defending, leading to more poor kicks out and more turnovers. We're not a side/list that can compete when we're 18th for clearances. Being so poor at stoppage is a big reason why we're 12th for inside 50s. Plenty of other factors at play, including our own desire in the first half of the year to play less of a high forward half press, and obviously we're worse in the middle given no Trac and half an Oliver, but our collective midfield efforts this year have not been good enough.

For the record I am a fan of Goodwin, but our conditioning really needs to be addressed in the summer.

May has been playing through adversity the entire season with those broken ribs. Had a chat to him a couple of times and he expressed that his body wasn’t feeling great. He has been brave this season, but it’s time to let him heal and set his sights on 2025

Exactly.. And of course a nuffy supporter is going to say every single player loves the coach. She'll hear what she wants to hear and certainly wont get the full truth in how it all works behind the scenes. This whole narrative that every single player loves the coach is so far wrong. You ask any AFL player going around and everyone of them will say that there are players in every club that either won't like the coach or have grown stale because they've been there too long sprouting the same [censored] each and every time. You then get your ones where they can be quiet disgruntled especially when it comes to team selection etc. You think Tommy Fullarton is loving Simon Goodwin after copping it the other week? You think guys like Bailey Laurie and Adam Tomlinson are loving Goody of late every time they are brought into the side and then dropped the following week?? [censored] laughable to think that there aren’t current players that have lost faith and trust in Goodwin as we speak. Happens at every single club.

Can we please just keep our top 10 pick

Melbourne fell out of the premiership race after producing a half-hearted effort against Footscray on Friday night. The team was barely recognizable from the one that, earlier in the season, established a 6/2 win-loss ratio that included a 55-point thumping of the Bulldogs in Round 1. It was a poor effort from a team that had its entire season on the line and the blame falls almost squarely on the midfield which has collapsed from being a peerless premiership-winning combination to the level of bumbling incompetence, this despite having a valiant leader in the form of skipper Max Gawn winning the ruck duels. Given the Demons were playing against a team on a five day break, it was important that they came out, played competitively and remained in the game, forcing the Bulldogs to expend energy and wilt later in the game. None of that happened and, instead it was the Demons who presented as a sinking ship, tired and listless. From the opening bounce, it was obvious that only one of the teams had come out to play. The hungry Bulldogs relishing the occasion of returning to their Footscray roots, carved up their opponents all over the ground but it started at in the boiler room where they hunted the ball, made space, created multiple avenues to goal and used their height advantage to perfection. The Demons were routed at the stoppages early in the game. They conceded the first ten clearances to the Bulldogs (a fortnight ago it was the first 15 against the Dockers) and it was only the errant kicking of the Footscray forwards that prevented it from being a massacre of Alice Springs proportions. The team looked disorganized and inept, there was little run and spread, the use of handball was poor and too many kicks went high in the air which suited an opponent with a significant height advantage. Clayton Oliver and Jack Viney were well down on their best with neither looking fully fit. To add to the disarray, Steven May was off before the main break with a recurrence of his early season rib injury. There was no Christian Petracca to conjure up goal scoring opportunities like Marcus Bontempelli and no Kozzy Pickett magic to replicate the way Cody Weightman created chaos in their attacking zone. Gawn stood tall as usual but the Bulldogs overwhelmed the Demons with their tall timber. His lieutenant Jacob van Rooyen continues to make inroads as does Trent Rivers while Tom Sparrow responded to his recent omission with a solid performance. The overreaching feeling from the game was how apparent it was that the Bulldogs are building towards a promising month or two ahead while Melbourne has lapsed and run completely out of puff at the business end. MELBOURNE 1.1.7 5.1.31 7.3.45 9.5.59 FOOTSCRAY 4.7.31 6.13.49 11.17.83 15.20.110 GOALS MELBOURNE Fritsch Pickett Sparrow 2 Gawn Rivers Woewodin FOOTSCRAY Bontempelli Naughton Treloar Ugle-Hagan Wightman 2 Darcy English Poulter Richards Williams BEST MELBOURNE Gawn Bowey Rivers Sparrow Langdon van Rooyen FOOTSCRAY Bontempelli Treloar Dale Lobb Weightman Liberatore INJURIES MELBOURNE Steven May (ribs) FOOTSCRAY Tom Liberatore (right ankle) REPORTS MELBOURNE Nil FOOTSCRAY Nil SUBSTITUTIONS MELBOURNE Daniel Turner (replaced Steven May at half time) FOOTSCRAY Caleb Daniel (replaced Tom Liberatore at three-quarter time) UMPIRES Brett Rosebury Matt Stevic Jamie Broadbent Brent Wallace CROWD 33,000 at Marvel Stadium

I despise Maynard and want him out of the game. more importantly I despise everyone involved in that Potemkin tribunal including the AFL, the compromised Gleeson and I’ve got some brickbats for our club for not being far more vocal

Our 2016 list had 9 of our eventual 23 premiership players on it. Ridiculous to suggest Goodwin took over some sort of Rolls Royce.

Watching Freo and Essendon, we need a lot more speed.

The team and coaches needs some fresh eyes and legs going into the preseason. This feels like an incredibly important 6 months if we're going to rise again next year and beyond. Get the draft wrong, have players not fit and fully bought in and a plan we can't execute seamlessly and we'll likely stay out of contention. Get it right and I'm a believer that we can push hard again for the foreseeable future.

Stoked for Hogan. Has finally become the player he was destined to be. Good on him.

Yeah I had a squiz too. Looks like there's a lot of talk he'll make his way to Melb but the trade value was fantasy stuff.

Robbing peter to pay paul has been an underrated issue for us this season. JVR, riv and koz all playing in the middle when we'd be better off if they were allowed to play their best positions.

I wonder how the ‘Time to go Hinkley’ thread is going over at PowerLand

Well I will be there supporting my club no matter what. I like it that Max has said the club need to show some pride in the jumper. With so many of our class players injured and shallow depth, I just want to see us contest the ball. Cut TMac some slack he has been fantastic all year. The umps got in his head Friday and he wasn't the only blackman swamped with the number of entries into our backline. Woewodin and AMW on the back flanks is probaly the most undersized inexperienced backline we have fielded. For those watching Casey consider that both Laurie and K. Brown lack penetration with their kicks and turn it over. The stats are misleading. I do however wish our forwards tackled like Laurie and Pup and then maybe the ball wouldn't rebound out the foirward line so much. Given the poor delivery at Casey Jefferson has done a mighty job. He is a strong overhead mark but rarely gets the ball on the lead because of poor disposal upfield. 3 games to go it is his time. The challenge will be who replaces May? Is Tomlison like for like? If he comes in and don't see Jefferson come in. If Petty goes back then Jeffo comes in.

Kane Cornes: Goodwin just needs to shut it down. Put the players who need it into surgery to give them the best chance of recovery and the best chance of a long pre-season. Oliver needs the biggest and longest pre-season he's ever had. He's a shell of himself and clearly not fit enough to be playing at this level. Fix up Max Gawn, it's cruel that they're forcing him to play because they don't have any other options, and I don't know what's going on with Viney. But there are a number of players who are clearly affected by injury. They need to shut the season down and get the players fixed and come back for a big pre-season.

Viney looks really sore, will probably require surgery on his shoulder Oliver has 14 pins in his hand, will require surgery Gawn has his ankle/leg issue May has his back/ribs issue Get them all in for surgery/recovery early so that they are fit for the majority of the preseason. And give the AFL minutes to guys in the VFL to see what they have (Laurie, Jefferson, Fullarton, K Brown)

We miss you Gus Look forward to when we can pay tribute to you at the G A true MFC legend

Not disagreeing, but two of the main reasons why fitness can be down are: - missed training/pre-season/matches through injury etc - younger players who have limited pre-seasons and haven't built up the deep stamina you need at AFL level There's not too many out there who don't fall into one of those two categories.

You actually think these coaches haven’t been given strong lists? Melbourne fans are delusional about us having this unbeatable list. Our list has been very good, not the most outstanding list though. Hawthorn of 2012-2015 was miles better

Weak from Freo. They’ll never be taken seriously.

I understand you are in favour of re-shaping the list and our best 23 but the only thing worse than signing Clarry to the massive contract we gave him, would be to trade him for a 2nd rounder and pay part of his wage. If any club thinks they can get Clarry back to pre-2024 levels, then we should believe that too. In fact, there's an argument he can only do it here, with the support networks he has relied on to keep his life on track around him.

Garry Lyon apparently said Oliver, Viney and Lever all need surgery post season. Just send them in now! Seriously, we don’t have anything to gain playing these guys with 3 games remaining. Get them all 100% ready to go for day 1 of preseason

It took little time for Footscray to establish its domination over the Casey Demons in their VFL Round 19 clash at Mission Whitten Oval on Friday afternoon. The Doggies had the early advantage of the breeze and, as those with a knowledge of the old VFL venue second only to Essendon’s ground for swirly winds will tell you, a good start is vital in such conditions. The five goal to one opening term which saw Footscray’s midfield dominate possession, turned out to be enough to secure the win as Casey was never really unable to make inroads on their supremacy. The visitors bravely fought a tie over the next two quarters to remain 29 points down at the final break and they still had the wind at their backs on the home stretch to give them some hope. Seven straight goals from the Bulldogs put an end to that and the 56 point margin at the end was a fitting one and a real sight for motorists driving home from town on a Friday afternoon. There were very few shining lights for the Demons as they spluttered their way through their last Victorian game in a disappointing season. They have a bye next week and then follow that up with a 10:00am game in the final round at People First Stadium against last year’s premiers, the Gold Coast Suns. It’s time to look forward to the future for the club and the combined entity it represents. The combine has been at its strongest when the VFL team has been at its best as it was two or three years ago. This year, injuries have been at play and, despite the lionhearted efforts of skipper Mitch White, assisted from time to time by Tyler Edwards and Roan Steele, the cupboard has been relatively bare. Similarly, Melbourne’s own contribution has not been as significant as in the past. In this game, Casey’s best was Bailey Laurie 29 disposals and ten tackles but he was well and truly overshadowed by Footscray’s Riley Sanders and Jack MacRae who, along with former Demon Oskar Baker monstered his team in every way on the ground and statistically. From. An AFL point of view, Laurie has been in and out of the team like a yo yo so fans will most likely have to look elsewhere for inspiration. Inspiration will most certainly not come from the likes of Ben Brown, Jack Billings, Adam Tomlinson or Lachie Hunter who are nearing the end of their careers. Shane McAdam booted two goals but will need good health and a strong pre season if he is to have an impact in 2025. Tom Fullarton had a strong game around the ground but was easily overshadowed in the ruck duels. This leaves Matthew Jefferson as this team’s leading light for the future and, unlike his 2023 fadeout, the young key forward is presenting well. His four goals in a team that well beaten at stoppages should not be underestimated and he is a 50:50 chance for elevation for an AFL game now that Melbourne’s season is over. Kynan Brown also impressed with his 18 disposals and eight tackles and also stands in line for promotion late in the season. He needs to improve the depth of his kicking but looks like a good learner. Ollie Sestan made a strong start but faded while Jed Adams was serviceable in defence. Along with young ruckman Will Verrall and midseason recruit Luker Kentfield, they are on a long journey to the big time. And so, the VFL season tapers off to a subdued ending at a distance in a fortnight’s time. CASEY DEMONS 1.1.7 5.4.34 8.5.53 10.8.68 FOOTSCRAY 5.6.36 8.6.54 12.10.82 19.10.124 GOALS CASEY DEMONS Jefferson 4 McAdam 2 B Brown K Brown Fullarton Kentfield FOOTSCRAY Sanders 3 Baker Bianco Gallagher Hargraves Owen 2 Bedendo Clarke Freijah Jones Smith Sparkman BEST CASEY DEMONS Hore Jefferson Laurie McAdam White Tomlinson FOOTSCRAY Sanders MacRae Baker Gallagher Owen Freijah Statistics Jed Adams 5 kicks 3 handballs 8 disposals 3 marks 3 tackles 40 dream team points Jack Billings 8 kicks 10 handballs 18 disposals 3 tackles 47 dream team points Ben Brown 1 goal 7 kicks 7 disposals 5 marks 43 dream team points Kynan Brown 1 goal 13 kicks 5 handballs 18 disposals 3 marks 8 tackles 94 dream team points Jesse Craven 1 behind 1 kick 3 handballs 4 disposals 1 tackle 14 dream team points Tyler Edwards 6 kicks 2 handballs 8 disposals 3 marks 6 tackles 56 dream team points Tom Fullarton 1 goal 10 kicks 10 handballs 20 disposals 6 tackles 28 hitouts 111 dream team points Roy George 1 kick 5 handballs 6 disposals 1 mark 13 dream team points Max Gregory 4 kicks 4 handballs 8 disposals 3 tackles 30 dream team points Marty Hore 16 kicks 16 disposals 8 marks 1 tackle 76 dream team points Lachie Hunter 10 kicks 7 handballs 17 disposals 7 marks 1 tackle 66 dream team points Matt Jefferson 4 goals 1 behind 6 kicks 2 handballs 8 disposals 3 marks 5 tackles 77 dream team points Luker Kentfield 1 goal 2 behinds 4 kicks 1 handball 5 disposals 1 marks 2 tackles 35 dream team points Bailey Laurie 14 kicks 15 handballs 29 disposals 3 marks 10 tackles 119 dream team points Shane McAdam 2 goals 2 behinds 9 kicks 6 handballs 15 disposals 5 marks 4 tackles 76 dream team points Nick Moodie 2 kicks 1 handball 3 disposals 1 mark 1 tackle 15 dream team points Josh Schache 7 kicks 3 handballs 10 disposals 5 marks 3 tackles 54 dream team points Ollie Sestan 8 kicks 5 handballs 13 disposals 2 marks 6 tackles 59 dream team points Roan Steele 6 kicks 2 handballs 8 disposals 3 marks 4 tackles 47 dream team points Adam Tomlinson 17 kicks 6 handballs 23 disposals 5 marks 2 tackles 86 dream team points Will Verrall 3 kicks 1 handballs 4 disposals 3 tackles 5 hitouts 28 dream team points Mitch White 14 kicks 7 handballs 21 disposals 1 mark 7 tackles 91 dream team points Kai Windsor 3 kicks 2 handballs 5 disposals 1 mark 13 dream team points

To the list, we’ve relied on super raw kids to come in down back and forward (and man a wing all year with no break).

After seeing Port last night, I have some concerns about this week.

SG has obviously tried this season to change to a faster running and kicking style. Then due to injuries/outs and lack of skills has reverted to some sort of horrible mishmash that is not a style at all. On the bad days it's a putrid form of football that's slow, laborious, predictable, easy to defend and easier to overrun. He obviously wants to change up, but I don't think he knows how and the really poor effort suggests lots of players have lost faith in "the brand" and the coach. The players don't know what they're doing any more. It's not great contest and we're not even getting that frustrating territorial dominance any more. I'm sure lots of you were sickened listening to BT saying that we hadn't had a forward 50 entry in the first quarter. So we're left in limbo with the worst of all worlds. Like another poster said, I'd hate to be drafted into such a rigorous negative, restrictive defensive minded system. Freedom and creativity is discouraged and that was fine when midfield and defensive lines were strong enough to limit teams to 60 points per game. When waves of half backs blast through our midfield our defence is now regularly under siege. So we're now seeing desperate panicked clearances, mistakes and hack kicks and hospital hand passes. If Ugle Hagan could kick last week I think I counted seven or eight goals he could have kicked by himself. That would have been really ugly. People who say he's unlikely to go anywhere are probably right, but I was really annoyed when his tenure was extended in the first place so I'll be more unhappy if that plan is stubbornly adhered to and we keep sliding. So how much of these type of uncompetitive losses should we tolerate? They're not the Melbourne brand that he talks about. How many chances should someone get to learn and improve and how often should we reward mediocrity and failure? I don't care about top four except for home finals and the double chance. Finals and flags are what counts. This year is another failure and few of us are really confident about 2025. I also don't care that he's mates with them and they like him. That's fine if we're winning and competitive, but it's harder for someone in that position to make tough calls required to lead. That closeness might be why we see the same minimal weekly changes and bizarre favouring of certain players and banishment of others. Maybe a close mate is not what's needed to fire up players before the first bounce and maybe it's harder to take advice and guidance from a friend? A change will come eventually so why wait? Does it require the embarassment of wooden spoons across our backsides for people to change their minds? That would be more damaging for the club and fanbase than a change of coaches. Last week was horrible as was West Coast, Freo x 2, Collingwood and I hate seeing us so uncompetitive and directionless.

Not sure if serious or not..? He had the Norm Smith wrapped up in 2021 when he kicked his 3rd goal to put them up 19 points. He single handedly carried that team on the night until we went on our run. His last final which was an elimination final in 2022 he had 30 disposals and 2 goals. Go watch the doggies 2016 finals series and he was one of their best rated players during their finals run. He performs in big games and it shows.

Bold point 1. Judd has been accountable for the oppositions best small/medium forward almost every game this year. Bold point 2. I think this is because we lack polish and quality ball use through the middle. Having a peak at the end of this season to see how his skills translate helps the decision on whether to train him more for a midfield or defence role over summer.

A quick one on Lingers. He's probably been our best player the last two weeks and really has had a great season. I'm very glad the MRO cleared him. Further, I think the emergence of Windsor has helped Lingers, and it's great that Caleb has older guys like Lingers to look up to and learn from.

When the players outnumber the crowd.

Tom controlled Hogan for the best part of 3/4's before a couple of good efforts by Jesse after a flood of supply. Had a shocker tonight but also got some of the roughest umpiring you'll ever see. Honestly, a few dropped marks paid and laughable frees against. He'll finish very highly in the B+F. If he's keen to play on someone will nab him. If we move him on it will only be because we've found another option and we want to stagger the McDonald/May coming off the list. Why would he be dropped for Tomlinson who would've given up just as many if not more contests tonight given the flood of supply.

I don't really care who wins the GF ... as long as it isn't the filth, or Jee-long.

He's a beast on the inside, has the strong fend off and has f50 smarts. There are a lot of Petracca comps and there are times when he reminds me a little (in game style and aggression) of Michael Voss. His ball use is very good for an inside mid, good punchy kick. After watching us get beaten up in contest this year, I'd love his physicality in our mix and see him and Tracc switching between fwd & mid working an absolute treat. Given his interrupted season he's sitting in that 8ish range, but can see him climbing rather than falling (which wouldn't be great for us, but would mean someone else slips down). Marc McGowan (who has a slightly different ranking to the other draft watchers) has Lalor at 5: 5. Sam Lalor GWV Rebels/Vic Country Midfielder/forward, 187cm, 30/8/2006 U18 champs stats (avg): 11 disposals, 4 tackles, 1.3 goals Lalor is one of several top prospects who has endured an injury-interrupted year, but there is excitement about his upside. Him being likened to Christian Petracca should give people an insight into the player recruiters think he can become. Lalor, who also has a high-level cricket background, is a bull in the contest, and similarly impactful as a midfielder and forward. He had only brief on-ball bursts at the championships because he was short on match fitness, but kicked three set-shot goals against the Allies. One to watch. https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/an-eye-to-the-future-your-guide-to-the-best-players-of-this-year-s-afl-draft-class-20240724-p5jw84.html

Surely at this point we’re all just death-riding our own club.